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200 million in unclaimed property sitting at State Treasurer's office
By Lauren Seabrook
The Kansas Treasurer's office is celebrating 30 years of unclaimed property service. The State currently has more than 200 million dollars worth of stuff that could be yours. 49 News Reporter Lauren Seabrook got a peek inside the vault and shows us some of the valuable things left behind.
Every year, the state brings in an average of 20 million dollars worth of personal property that is unclaimed. Lisa Wood of the Unclaimed Property Department says, "We have people's full dinner sets, we have silverware, we have, one of the other neat boxes that we did was the family heirlooms of a family in Burlingame."
One person even left behind the very first copy of X-Men comic books, the original edition, and on E-Bay it's worth a lot. Wood says, "We kind of assume that maybe his sons didn't realize he had a box, and he does have three sons that we are going to try to contact." In that same box were 3 more early copies of X-men, collectors coins, and very valuable baseball, basketball and hockey trading cards. All in perfection condition.
Wood says, "We just have actual money too of course from utility deposits and things that people forget that they paid years ago, and then when they move they don't get those funds back."
State Treasurer Dennis McKinney says claiming the property is completely free and easy to do. McKinney says, "These folks are very friendly and would love to help you get your property back."
In the last 30 years, the state has returned more than 132 million dollars of property and still has 200 million left to be claimed. The State holds unclaimed property for up to two years, then auctions it off on E-Bay.
